Tales from Easement Acres
My last mushroom farming attempt was successful, however the variety of mushroom I found to be unpalatable.
So this year, I’m attempting Blue Oysters. I like oyster mushrooms. I hope this works out. This variety came as plugs, which I then embedded into chunks of a freshly-cut maple branch lost to high winds.
Here’s hoping! If they don’t take, I’m sure the wine caps will be back. The straw in the bucket is heavily packed with mycelium from last year.
–Simon
A man should have weapons mounted on walls. This is a requirement of manhood. Failure to do so denies that which makes us men: the capacity for and proper use of selective violence.
However, the type of weapon and the method of display distinctly broadcasts the man’s association with violence. Sword = nerd and probably younger. Yes, I have a sword hanging up in the basement but I also have a history degree so I get a pass. Old family shotgun = appreciation for family history. Bolt-action rifle = appreciation for hunting or precision shooting. AR15 = douchebag.
But what about classic recurve/longbows? Well they’re awesome, of course. But as for storage, the bow is a unique customer. It can’t be stood up in a corner or shoved in the attic. Bad climate control can cause delamination, and improper support can cause warping. Unlike firearms, they’re very particular. Even when not intended to be displayed, they still need even, horizontal support in a low-humidity and low heat environment. And at 4-6′ long, they can take up an awkward amount of wall space. A solution was needed, but internet searches for bow holders tended to favor the compound variety, and anything else proved to be ridiculously overpriced. As usual, I would have to build my own.
…Which really didn’t require all that much imagination. A couple boards and hanging brackets would suffice, since they were going in the basement. Here’s what I came up with:
Basic and functional, and elegant in its simplicity. At last the bows are now not only properly stored, but also displayed. Manly!
–Simon
Following the great firewood processing of 2025, I was left with some junk wood remnants: rotten chunks, un-splittable end pieces, wood that absorbed too much mud over the years, etc. So I carefully stacked them into a pile and ended up with a…
No, not a haphazard pile of junk wood. A stumpery!
No really, this is a thing. The great Monty Don – Britain’s most famous master gardener, told me so.
And no, I’m not making this guy up either. The Brits are weird. He’s on Amazon streaming. Look it up.
The premise being, a pile of large chunks of wood can add visual interest to an otherwise over-manicured garden. Maybe, or it might just end up looking like a pile of junk. Which is why I’m attempting to inoculate it with mushroom spores.
I did successfully grow a mushroom patch last year, though the mushrooms themselves weren’t very tasty.
But for the purposes of the stumpery, I intend the mushrooms to be more ornamental than edible.
These packets are interesting. Little wooden plugs coated in mycelium, meant to be inserted into logs.
We shall see.
–Simon
Actually, I find that the snow makes winter less depressing. Snow gives the cold purpose, without which we’re forced to endure damp grass, dormant gardens, and grey skies without purpose. Fortunately, we’re getting lots of snow this year! Yay! Take that, suicide month!
And after an extended weekend of shoveling a Cold Ton, we were left with the material for a proper snow fort, or rather, a quinzhee!
I managed to get the kid outside, in the winter!
–Simon
A house!
After my recent accomplishment of finally installing bathroom ductwork into proper external vents, I started to reminisce. We will soon hit our 10-year mark in this house, Easement Acres. What began as an American dream turned into a parenthood want: a place for the kid to grow up. And the romanticized homestead activities of decorating and gardening. I wanted a home. I moved a lot myself as a kid, with the longest stint in a Lubbock property – more of a prison, really, with a tiny backyard and a lack of permission to ever venture beyond the privacy fence unescorted. All it needed was some concertina wire to complete the feeling.
But now, with the decade landmark in sight, this will be the longest I have ever lived in one domicile. So I wanted to look back on what I’ve written about in my time here. Or more specifically, what I’ve written about regarding the house itself.
Here’s a chronological list:
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Conclusion
A lot of work has been done here on Easement Acres! It’s definitely more than my parents had ever done to their home. I think the difference lies with the generation gap. My home was never a given. There was a lot of doubt we’d ever get to have one at all! So every day is a new opportunity to, again, partake in the ultimate hobby! It’s not simply a place to live.
I wonder what the next 10 years will bring.
–Simon